Category: Media Coverage
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NPR Explores Lab-Grown Fish Possibilities
National Public Radio (NPR) has published a piece on BlueNalu, a company aiming to market and sell fish cultivated in a laboratory. “[U]nlike today’s wild-caught or farmed fish options, BlueNalu’s version of seafood will have no head, no tail, no bones, no blood. It’s finfish, just without the swimming and breathing part,” the article explains.…
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Preservative Could Cause Higher Flu Vulnerability, Quartz Reports
Quartz has reported on a Michigan State University study purportedly finding that tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), which can help preserve unsaturated vegetable oils and animal fats, may cause a higher susceptibility to influenza. Researchers apparently found that TBHQ caused the T cells of lab mice to become more sluggish and thus unable to fight off the flu…
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Washington Post Covers Pork Inspection Change
The meat industry is moving towards self-regulation for identifying diseased animals, an article in The Washington Post asserts. The article documents a series of changes shifting responsibility for identifying contamination in meat production, especially pork and poultry, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to employees of the regulated production plants. The Post spoke to…
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“Meat”-Defining Bills Proliferate, New York Times Reports
The New York Times has published an update on proposed state laws defining “meat” as an animal-derived product. In addition to Missouri‘s existing law, several state legislatures—including Arizona, Arkansas, Nebraska and Washington—will be considering statutes that would prevent purveyors of plant-based or lab-grown meat-replacement products from using the term “meat” on their labels. The policy…
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Publications Examine Effects of Farm Bill on Hemp, CBD
The December passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, or the Farm Bill, has resulted in several publications speculating about the effects of the bill’s legalization of industrial hemp on the cannabidiol (CBD) market. The law, which removed “hemp” from the definition of “marijuana” in the Controlled Substances Act, may “make CBD production legal…
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Vox Compares SSB Taxes to Corner Store Initiatives
Vox Media’s podcast The Impact has examined New York City’s and Chicago’s approaches to combating obesity, including Chicago’s imposition of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). A reporter first speaks to employees of an initiative in New York that encourages corner-store owners to stock more healthy foods, and she finds that the results have been…
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Associated Press Explores GE Livestock
The Associated Press has detailed the efforts of Recombinetics, a company that develops genetically engineered (GE) animals, to seek regulatory and public approval of its work. The company CEO reportedly told the news outlet that it aims to assuage fears about GE animals by focusing on how they can help ease animal pain, such as…
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Advocacy Group Calls for a Ban on “Freakshakes”
According to the BBC, advocacy group Action on Sugar has called for restaurants to stop serving “freakshakes,” milkshakes with added “chocolates, sweets, cake, cream and sauce.” The group reportedly surveyed restaurants for nutritional information on their freakshakes and found that some contained as many as 1,280 calories, or “more than half the daily recommended amount…